


A Perfect Secretary

by vivaciousirish



Series: Girlsies Week 2018 [1]
Category: Newsies (1992), Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: Canon Era, Crossover, Davey Jacobs (mentioned) - Freeform, Gen, Historical, Katherine Plumber-Pulitzer (mentioned), Les Jacobs (mentioned) - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-17
Updated: 2018-04-17
Packaged: 2019-04-24 08:48:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 757
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14352036
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vivaciousirish/pseuds/vivaciousirish
Summary: Hannah is the perfect secretary, but sometimes she considers trying her hand at something else.(I swear, it's better than the summary implies.)





	A Perfect Secretary

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! This is my first piece, so feedback is much appreciated. It was written and originally posted on Tumblr for Girlsies Week 2018 (created by @girlsiesweek) and I'll be putting the other works I write throughout the week here as well.  
> 

Hannah is the perfect secretary. Her handwriting and typing are practically interchangeable: small, neat, accurate. Her desk is always immaculate, her demeanor is always polite but professional, and she can recall everything from the name of the man who called three Wednesdays ago to purchase advertisements to what brand of brandy to buy Bunsen for his birthday. From other office workers to executives, people are always saying that the World would fall apart without her. That Pulitzer is lucky to have her. That she was made for this job.

She would agree, if she didn’t despise it so much.

At family dinners, his parents love to tell the story of how young Hannah showed every sign of her future profession: nimble fingers, ready mind, eager to please. They say how lucky she is. For the daughter of immigrants who cannot escape Brooklyn tenements, working for a millionaire publisher and living in a small but safe downtown apartment is excellent.

But Hannah remembers it differently. Giving up writing letters to the editor for secretarial school. Trading political stances for stock phone call phrases. Realizing she needed to serve with a smile and sweet silence to be taken seriously. Changing everything about herself, and for what?

A few dollars a week and to be treated like a glorified servant.

“Hannah!”

And here’s her next assignment.

“Will you escort Miss Jacobs out?”

Pulitzer practically pushes a young woman out of his office, slamming the door shut in her face. She stares at it for a moment, her eyes wide and her mouth open in a shocked O, before bursting into tears.

Hannah jumps up from her desk and pulls her into the hallway, pressing a handkerchief into her hand. This isn’t the first suffragette Hannah’s escorted out of the building this month, not even the first this week, and she feels terrible.

“Th-thank you,” the girl sniffles.

“Of course.” Hannah shifts awkwardly. “I’m Hannah. I’m so sorry about Mr. Pulitzer. Do you want to…talk about it?”

Another tear rolls down her cheek as she nods slightly. “My brother works for the World. He said-he said Pulitzer might understand, especially after the strike…”

Hannah realizes who this girl is. She knows the Jacobs boys through Katherine, and they’ve mentioned her. Their sister, Sarah. A sister who was so inspired by their strike that she joined the women’s movement and spends her days handing out pamphlets on street corners and giving speeches on soapboxes between factory shifts. Davey is so proud of her. Les idolizes her. Even her parents support her, and she has seen the entire Jacobs family head out to rallies with signs and sashes on weekends.

Now Hannah feels even worse.

Sarah is still talking. “I thought-his daughter is so brilliant and talented, and he hired you, and obviously you’re smart too, so I thought…I don’t know. Maybe he’d be sympathetic.”

“Mr. Pulitzer doesn’t acknowledge that I exist most days,” Hannah admits. “He hired me because he needed a secretary and men aren’t secretaries. Not because he believes in gender equality.”

“But Katherine told my brother that you sit in on editorial meetings!”

Hannah laughs. “To take notes.”

“But if you and Katherine haven’t convinced him that women are capable and deserving of the vote, I don’t know what will!” Sarah sounds disheartened, and Hannah sighs.

“He’s a stubborn, old-fashioned man. I wouldn’t put my eggs in that basket.” She notices Sarah’s eyes are watering again. Clearly, the girl thinks she can make a different. Hannah remembers when she thought things were so simple and easily changed. She wishes she still thought things were so simple and easily changed.

She’s spent too long taking notes in editorial meetings to be optimistic, but even if it’s too late for her, it’s not too late for Sarah. “Perhaps try the Journal. Mr. Hearst has always been more progressive than Mr. Pulitzer.”

“You know Hearst?” Sarah asks with interest.

“I’ve worked here for almost five years. I know quite a few people.” Hannah smooths her skirt. “Speaking of which, I should be getting back up to my desk. Good afternoon, Miss Jacobs.”

She’s a few steps up the stairs when Sarah’s voice rings out again.

“Hannah?”

“Yes, Miss Jacobs?”

Sarah is holding out her sash. Cream-colored, emblazoned with the words “VOTES FOR WOMEN” in bright blue letters. “Here.” She smiles. “Maybe I’ll see you at our next rally.“

Hannah is the perfect secretary. But holding the silky fabric, she wonders if she should try her hand at being something else.


End file.
